Medical products in kit form are typically carried by military personnel, law enforcement personnel, and rescue personnel or other first responders into emergency situations. The various products chosen for inclusion in the kit are generally those used to at least temporarily address a wound and to stabilize a patient until the patient can be transported to a medical facility. These products generally include bandages, gauze, and compounds such as iodine solutions or other ointments that may be applied to wounds to improve septic conditions. Other products may include smelling salts, salt tablets, and devices for the automatic injection of compounds to treat anaphylactic shock (such as an EPIPEN).
First aid, particularly in military scenarios, must often be administered in less than favorable conditions such as in low light or in the dark. It is often impractical to provide artificial lighting in such scenarios because lighting may be unavailable or may attract hostile attention to both the wounded person and the caregiver. Especially under battle conditions, even the use of pen-type flashlights or similar devices may be susceptible to undesirable detection.
Situations may also occur in which a person's vision is impaired so that he/she may not be able to open the medical kit. A person may also be blinded as a result of foreign objects such as dust, smoke, chemical vapors, blood, or the like in addition to direct injury to the eyes. In these types of situations, no amount of light would enable the blinded person to see sufficiently to self-administer the needed aid. Furthermore, unless a caregiver is adequately equipped with the necessary paraphernalia (respirators or masks) to counter the effects of dust, smoke, chemical vapors, etc., the caregiver is also unlikely to be able to access the medical kit and the contents therein.
There is a current need for an improved manner of identifying emergency medical products under less than adequate lighting conditions or in situations in which vision is impaired.
Based on the foregoing, it is a general object of the present invention to provide devices that facilitate the identification of medical products under low-light or no-light conditions to allow for the application of such products to wounded personnel.